


Balance

by sunaddicted



Series: Tumblr Prompts 2018 [10]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Character Study, Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Secret Marriage, Tumblr Prompt, Understanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 15:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14240715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted
Summary: It wasn't time for them to tell anyone yet: after all, Moneypenny had a bet to win.





	Balance

**Author's Note:**

> @opalescentgold asked for 00q+someone accepting the bad parts of you without judging

_Balance_

Q was far from perfect.

Very far from it, in fact: he didn't have enough fingers to count all of his flaws and annoying habits, would probably forget about some even if he tried.

His mother had always told him that if he wanted to find someone to share his life with, he'd have to soften his edges - become more malleable and approachable, more willing to compromise.

Either that or he'd have to stumble into a saint equipped with an endless reserve of patience.

Q had stumbled into a demon, someone who was just as flawed as he was - just as hard to live with.

MI6 had bets going on about how fast they would burn and fall apart, Q knew that: everyone seemed to find impossible that his relationship with James Bond would last more than a fling.

He had no shame in admitting that his stomach twisted with a vicious kind of satisfaction when the weeks turned into months and the months slipped into a year.

Then a year and a half.

Two years.

James had stopped protesting about kissing in front of their colleagues and peacefully haunted Q-branch whenever he wasn't busy, keeping his lover company while he worked on a project or was on the comms, offering support and expertise.

The bets had changed, of course; some people had started betting they would be engaged within the year, others had abandoned the pool - Q didn't resent any of them: they all needed something to distract themselves from the grim realities of their jobs.

He'd never cared much about people's opinions anyway.

The truth was, they worked as a couple because neither of them were what people would commonly refer as ideal partners.

Q slept too little and snapped too much, easily lost his patience when his blood sugar levels crashed and he had drank more tea than what was healthy; he didn't have time to waste on caring for himself or other people when he was hyperfixated on work, lost in his numbers and eyes trained on the objective; he was just as ruthless as any Double-Oh, just as deadly, just as capable of cruelty.

James was always maudlin and hid it behind too much alcohol and cigarettes smoked while standing at the window sill, ashes falling down on the unaware passerbys; he closed off and didn't talk, preferred sulking in a corner and wait for someone to divine what was wrong; he was too rash, lived his life too fast.

And they respected each other, knew that they both had habits that drove the other mad - they didn't expect perfection, were well aware that they hadn't paired up with someone who could give them that.

Which was why they were so happy together.

No ridiculous expectations.

No hurt.

Just acceptance and the occasional fight that always got resolved once they both had the time to sit down and breathe, cooling on their own until they were ready to talk and solve whatever problem had cropped up.

Most of the times, they fought about silly stuff anyway: on the majority of what was important, they surprisingly agreed on.

When someone dared to ask him what was their secret, Q shrugged "We accept each other, the good and the bad" he would answer with a smile, eyes wandering to the naked strip of skin around his ring finger: would their colleagues lose it, if they learnt they had already tied the knot?

It wasn't time for them to tell anyone yet: after all, Moneypenny had a bet to win. 


End file.
